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Friday, November 30, 2012

Seven Quick Takes-- an interview with myself

If you're not a regular reader, I need to preface the following post with a little background. Yesterday, I decided to share my blog with my friends and family on Facebook which is kind of a big deal for me. You can read yesterday's post here.

The following is a little Q and A that I intended to include with yesterday's post but later decided to turn into another post. These are questions I'm guessing many of my friends and family would like to ask me, but maybe they are too polite. Since I'm the type that just can't function with an elephant in the room, I need to address these questions, so I can move on to bigger and better blog posts about the Elf on the Shelf, the Oakland Zoo, and my husband's hair.

So, without further ado, here is a little Q and A with myself (or what I suspect are seven questions friends and family would like to ask me)--

{one}﻿

Q: Why did you decide to name your blog the "The Imperfect Catholic?"

A: Actually, my original title was "The Imperfect Catholic: My Quest for Sainthood."

I'm still not sure if I like my title or not. Maybe you can help me decide if I should keep it or change it. I definitely feel it's an accurate description of myself and the faith journey I'm on. I think the title is relatable, and it's the number one way people stumble upon my blog. I think there are a lot of Catholics out there who feel like they just can't measure up, and they are looking for answers. I guess one of the problems with my title is I don't think I'm qualified to give any answers. I just concentrate on what's in front of me. Another reason, I'm not sure about my title is I'm afraid it excludes non Catholics from being interested in my blog. I'd love to have a more inclusive title, but nothing else feels right. Any ideas?

Right now, I'm following the advice I gave students when I taught creative writing, "Just write. Don't worry about the end product. You can always go back and edit, delete, rework later. Just write." You can read a little more about why I chose the title here.

{two}﻿

Q: So, do you only blog about religious stuff?

A: No. I blog about life with the kids too. You can watch a video of Maura on the monkey bars & pictures from a recent hike here. You can read about life with Griffin here (my favorite post-- please listen to Barry while reading). You can read about Paul here.

I usually only have time to post 2x per week here. It's all I can manage with 3 small children, but I write every day. Sometimes that writing turns into a published post. Sometimes it doesn't.

Things I'd like to write about:
-- Mike
--Mike & specifically his wealth of hair. Just trust me on this one.
--memories of growing up (those stories are only fun if my friends/family read my blog-- pretty, please?)
--how parenting is like college
--circles of parenting Hell-- what Dante left out
--favorite songs-- what's best for karaoke? gangsta rap? best for girlie dance parties? I own this one.
--the Oakland Zoo-- that place is awesome but totally whack
--my freaky experience with an abortion doc after moving to SF. Trust me, it was crazy, and I'd really like to blur the lines between fact & fiction with that one because it was C-R-A-Z-Y. Maybe a short story?
--why I will probably never wear a mantilla, but why I may start kneeling to receive the Eucharist (someday)
--why I'll probably always feel okay about wearing jeans to mass (just not every week)
--signs that I would always become a Catholic blogger

I'd love it if you would leave me a comment & tell me what you'd like to hear about.

{three}﻿

Q: So, Kate, are you guys, like super religious now?

A: We're practicing Catholics. And by practicing, I mean we practice our faith every day (not just Sundays); that was a life changer for us. Does that mean we're super religious? I think that's a matter of opinion/perception.

{four}﻿

Q: So...I hear you guys use NFP. How many kids are you planning on having?

A: Seriously, only God knows. If Mike & I learned anything about trying to have kids, it's that it never goes according to plan (at least for us). We lost our first two babies through miscarriage, then couldn't get pregnant (so we started reading about NFP & charting-- I'd say we were starting our NFP journey then), then Maura, then didn't get pregnant again (even though we started trying when she was only 9 months old), then we postponed when we moved to Vegas (as we worked on our marriage-- a tough time), got pregnant very easily with Griffin, started officially using NFP 100%, then Paul, currently postponing because I'm having some medical issues and life is...well...crazy...but, yes, I think we will have more children (if we're able to). We're open to it. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

{five}﻿

﻿

Q: Do you still drink?

A: Every night.

{six}﻿

Q: Do you still swear and do "normal stuff"? (I think people want to know if practicing Catholics are flawed and if they have other interests or if it's all Jesus, all the time).

A: Yes, we still have the same flaws and interests that we had before going back to the church. In terms of swearing, we're kind of like Old School (the movie) over here. Maura is too old for "earmuffs," so we usually turn the radio down when our favorite rap song starts cursing, and I try to use my old "teacher swears" in front of the kids like, "Oh gosh!", "Holy crow!", or Mike's least favorite "Bananas!", which I turn into "banana hammock" when it's just the two of us which grosses him out. Get used to it Mike-- we live in San Francisco.

So, I guess our life is kind of like when you're favorite R-rated comedy is edited for television. I think that is more of a result of being parents than of being Catholic though.

{seven}﻿

Q: I noticed you post pictures of your outfit every Sunday. What's up with that?

A: I participate in a Catholic fashion link up on Sundays over at Fine Linen and Purple. You can read an article about it here. It's just something lighthearted that I like to do with my Catholic e-friends. Do you have a blog? Join the fun!

Do you have other questions? E-mail me or leave a comment. Thanks for reading!

And because you've been such a good sport, watch this video of a man interviewing his 12-year-old self. It's flippin' awesome.

3 comments:

I loved this!! It helped me get to know you better, too! I had a hard time sharing my blog with my family and friends, too, but ultimately it has brought me a great deal of peace. And I'm always surprised when I hear my in real life friends talk about reading my blog. Crazy!!